


Chasing the Moonlight

by ThePanakinAnakin



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Canon X OC - Freeform, Emperor Anakin Skywalker, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Needs A Hug, Former Friends, M/M, Mentions of Obi-Wan Kenobi - Freeform, Mentions of Palpatine, OC X CANON, Original Character confused by feelings for attractive edgy male, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Possessive Edgy Bastard Anakin Skywalker, Post-Star Wars Prequel Trilogy & Pre-Star Wars: Original Trilogy, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Sith Anakin Skywalker, Suitless Darth Vader, Top Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, self-indulgent story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:49:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27629105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePanakinAnakin/pseuds/ThePanakinAnakin
Summary: Former Padawan Wheatley Moonlit has been on the run for three years, an ominous promise has haunted his every step. He was alone, and was being hunted by the most powerful man in the galaxy. What does the Former Jedi-turned-Emperor want with him? More importantly, can Wheatley separate his feelings towards Anakin in the past from their situation now? Perhaps, the Force or fate has another path planned out for him. Either way, Wheatley just wants to survive.(Anakin x Male!OC, aka "AniWheat").
Relationships: AniWheat | Anakin Skywalker/OC
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13
Collections: AniWheat|Anakin Skywalker x Wheatley Moonlit (OC)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first actually serious multi-chapter fanfic, I'm super nervous about posting it because I know OCs get a bad wrap. But honestly, I just wanted to write something fun for myself. This is an Alternate Universe fic, and very much non-canon to the Skywalker Saga.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it if you're interested.
> 
> \- ThePanakinAnakin

**_Prologue_**

The screams of his fallen friends echoed around him. People he saw as family, as mentors were being killed all around him. Betrayed by the clone troopers the Jedi thought were their friends.

Wheatley, a padawan of twenty on the cusp of knighthood, had to get out of the temple. He couldn't be found, or else he'd join the others. So, he crept in the shadows and he concentrated on hearing everything around him as he began his nigh impossible mission.

But during his training years, he had honed his ability to conceal himself from others. Using the Force, he could mute his aura and pass as a normal citizen of the Republic. Though a better trained Jedi might be able to see through that mask.

Blasters were being fired and Wheatley forced himself not to look at the carnage. He picked up his pace, going from a brisk walk to a run. Wheatley kept his footsteps as light as he could, he wasn't surprised that the clones didn't notice him.

His running came to a direct stop when he reached the chamber where the younglings were held. But he was too late, peeking through the crack of the door he saw bodies pf the younglings. The sight made his stomach heave and he covered his mouth, anything to stop himself from throwing up.

Standing in the room, gazing impassively at the corpses was a Jedi that Wheatley had once admired. Anakin Skywalker, a general in the clone wars and a hero. But he didn't look so heroic right now in Wheatley's opinion.

Anakin turned back to the doorway, and Wheatley attempted to conceal himself somewhere away from the door. He hid behind a pillar and let himself slide down onto his knees. The Order was no more, everyone had been killed and there was nothing left but the agony.

The agony of losing the next generation of Jedi, the agony of seeing someone he had _trusted_ being the culprit of such heinous acts. All of those feelings began to overwhelm the padawan, and this compromised his concentration to keep up the Force Cloak ability.

A big mistake, he realised, when he heard footsteps approaching his hiding spot. Wheatley hardly dared to breathe, if he did… he'd be captured and killed.

"Come on out," Anakin said as he approached. "I know you're hiding, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

Oh, how Wheatley wished the man was being sincere. He remained silent, it seemed as if all the sounds around him had just been silenced as well.

All he could hear was Anakin's approach and his own heartbeat. He could make a mad dash for it, but Skywalker was powerful. It was said by the other Jedi that Anakin was the most powerful Force user in the galaxy, there was no way Wheatley could save himself.

The footsteps ceased, and Wheatley waited for the inevitable storm that would break. The tension became almost too strong to take, and he struggled to not reveal himself. Anakin's footsteps started up again, there was nowhere to run now. His blood ran cold when he noticed that Anakin's boots were right in front of him.

"A-Anakin," Wheatley said the name in a terrified whisper. His gaze drifted upwards and locked onto Anakin's. The burning yellow eyes of the dark side seemed to pierce his very soul. As if Anakin could read every secret thought Wheatley could ever have.

"Hello," Anakin smirked and grabbed Wheatley's robes. The padawan let out a startled yelp as he was lifted off the ground, then grunted in pain as he was shoved up against the pillar.

"You killed them... You killed the younglings!" Wheatley felt tears threatening to spill from his eyes and he struggled against Anakin's hold. But the former Jedi's grip was too strong to escape from.

"No, I didn't," Anakin replied dismissively. "I sent in the troopers to kill them; I wouldn't waste my time killing children myself."

"You still ordered them to kill!" Wheatley hissed in disgust.

"I would never hurt the younglings myself," Anakin snapped. "That's why I got them to do it for me." The man relaxed again and gave Wheatley an impassive stare. "It doesn't matter who killed them, the age of the Jedi is over. My reign over the galaxy will begin."

Wheatley struggled but still couldn't escape, he was starting to get desperate and lashed out with his feet. Anakin watched as Wheatley's legs did not meet their targets, and the padawan felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

He couldn't win, so his body gave up the struggling as he was forced into submission.

"Please Anakin," Wheatley decided to try and beg for his life. A humiliating action, but he didn't want to die. "Please, spare me."

Anakin smirked again, more amused than sinister. "What could you give me that can convince me to spare you?"

Wheatley swallowed nervously; the way Anakin spoke to him sent a shiver down his spine. Though he didn't know if that shiver was of terror, or something else that he refused to consider.

"Anything," Wheatley replied as he begged for his life. "I'll give you anything you want. Just please, let me go."

Anakin seemed to contemplate this before releasing him. "Go. I'll give you a head start. But remember, I _will_ find you and you will _never_ escape me."

Wheatley fell to the ground, but quickly picked himself up and fled the temple. Out of desperation, he sliced any clone troopers that tried to stop him. Deflecting the blaster bolts when possible, and he eventually made it out alive.

He saw the state of Coruscant and knew the age of the Republic was over. Over for good, and it would never return. Not stopping to look at his surroundings anymore, he found one of the Jedi starfighters and hijacked it. It felt weird to him, using a Jedi starfighter when the Jedi were now dead. However, he needed a way to get off of this planet, far from Anakin and the budding empire.

He went up into the atmosphere then jumped to hyperspace after typing in random coordinates. He was safe for now, but Anakin's parting words echoed in his head. He just hoped he could get far enough away from the man and evade capture for as long as he could.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 1_ **

****

Three years, it had been three kriffing years since he had fled from the temple. Wheatley had tried to settle in places with little to no Imperial control, but unfortunately that was rare to find. Currently he was on his home planet of Corellia, which was predominantly controlled by the Empire.

During his years on the run, Vader had been in pursuit. But Wheatley always managed to stay one step ahead, it was rather amusing how Vader couldn't sense him when he cloaked his Force aura.

He continued his job of repairing ships that belonged to the Imperials, and he wished he could just take off again somewhere else. But he had made a sort of home here, and it would be a hassle to uproot himself and run again.

The clanking of metal on metal echoed around him in the shipyard. It was a familiar and repetitive sound, but it never failed to annoy him.

"Oi, Kinall!" Wheatley stopped his work and turned to see who was calling for him, Kinall was his current alias.

"What?" Wheatley snapped; he recognised a co-worker of his. A Twi'lek named Ro'tala often liked to bother him, and Wheatley was starting to lose his patience.

"Could you spare a moment to help me with lifting this?" Ro'tala gestured to a rather large chunk of metal, and Wheatley shook his head.

"You can't fool me, Ro'tala," Wheatley retorted, annoyed at the blatant attempt at getting Wheatley to do the Twi'lek's job. "You've lifted heavier things than that, so go bother someone else," Wheatley returned to his work.

He heard the indignant huff and the sound of Ro'tala lifting the metal. Usually he would lend a hand to a co-worker, but not today. As he started to repair the ship he was working on, he sensed a powerful presence somewhere near where the employers were stationed.

A familiar aura that was dark and murky, and full of emotional turmoil. His blood ran cold and his heart rate sped up when he recognised who that aura belonged to. Darth Vader, what business did the emperor have overseeing a shipyard? Wheatley had been certain that Vader had lost his trail sometime last month, or maybe Vader had just let him escape?

Why was Vader still searching for him? Wheatley remembered the emperor's promise to him, and how those words had haunted him during his life on the run. He had lost sleep while thinking about being hunted down and killed, like many had been before him.

His heart also ached as he thought about the emperor. Once he had been Wheatley's friend, someone Wheatley had even loved. Sometimes he wondered if Anakin Skywalker was still in there somewhere...

He shook his head to make the thought disappear, of course not. Anakin was long dead, only the cold and merciless Vader was left. It was almost enough to make him shed a tear; he missed the old days back in the prime of the Jedi Order. Before the Empire, before Anakin turned to the dark side and became the man he was today.

During his musings, he heard the sound of something starting to give way. Wheatley stood up and looked around, his gaze locked onto a crane that was carrying the remains of a rebel ship.

The hook had started to lose its grip, the crane swayed precariously while this happened. Wheatley knew that if it did let go, innocent people would be killed. The second that the ship remains dropped, Wheatley reached out with the Force. It had been a long time since he had used it to lift things.

His arms trembled as he tried his best to keep it floating. The aching in his arms started to get to him, but he focused on the Force. He would not let a tragedy happen today, and so he tried his best.

The ship was still levitating, and there were sounds of awe and fear. With a grunt of effort, Wheatley managed to throw the ship remains into the turbulent waters of the harbor. He collapsed onto his knees and looked around, hoping that nobody had known it was him who had saved the day.

"Someone used the Force!" An Imperial guard was the one who had shouted the words. Wheatley knew that Vader would have sensed him and so he fled, terrified that the emperor would finally catch up to him.

Wheatley was no match for him, and he felt adrenaline course through his veins. It gave him strength to run faster, leaping over obstacles to find the quickest path out of the shipyard.

Once he was out of the shipyard, he quickly used the Force to cloak himself again. He crept through the streets of Corellia, sticking to the shadowy areas and places where nobody usually ventured.

He quickly hid in an alley way to catch his breath; he could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears as if it were the tolling of his death bell.

He sank to the ground and hugged his knees close to his chest. He had no choice now, he had to find a way to leave. But this planet was crawling with Imperials and Stormtroopers, soldiers who no doubt have been alerted to his presence on Corellia.

Sure enough, as if his thoughts had summoned them, a patrol of Stormtroopers ran past his hiding place.

"Split up," the lead trooper ordered. "Find the Jedi scum and bring him to me!" Wheatley shuddered at the thought of his hiding place being discovered, all he wanted some peace for once in his life. Though he was the one to choose Corellia as a hiding spot, so his safety being compromised was on him.

Holding his breath, he waited until the troopers were out of earshot. Now he could think up an escape plan, he needed a ship and he needed one fast. Getting up onto his feet again, he peeked around the corner of the alley. No sign of any Imperials or troopers, just everyday people going about their lives.

Wheatley made a break for it, but he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey! Over here!" It could have been a trick, but Wheatley sensed that it wasn't. He ran over to where the voice had come from, it was outside a building that looked abandoned. There he saw a small group of people dressed in shabby green uniforms. He'd seen enough _'rebel'_ soldiers throughout his travels to know who they were. Wheatley sighed in relief, surely they'd be able to help him.

"You called?" Wheatley asked them. The tallest of the group, a woman with a kind face and some scarring nodded in acknowledgement of his question.

"Yeah, so you're the Jedi the Imperials and shipyard workers are all gossiping about?" She crossed her arms and examined him, her eyes showing a reasonable amount of wariness.

"Yes, that's me," Wheatley said hurriedly. "I need to get out of here fast, can you help me with that?"

The woman nodded and also glanced around to see if they were being watched.

"We have ships, and you can come with us off this sewer hole." Wheatley almost cried in relief, but he kept his composure.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Wheatley knew that the group had ulterior motives, but that didn’t really concern him. Perhaps they wanted him to be in debt to them, so he'd join the makeshift rebellion. Wheatley had already made up his mind about involving himself in the war, and he wouldn't do it.

Not only would it be a risk to his own safety, it would also put the rebels at risk if he joined them. Vader would have more of a reason to destroy them, and Wheatley couldn't live with that amount of blood on his hands.

"I'm not joining your war," Wheatley decided to be upfront with his intentions. "It's too dangerous and I want no part in it." To his surprise, the rebel soldiers didn't seem too bothered about his choice.

"That's fine, kid. We know war isn't for everyone," the leader said with a wry smile. "We have a spare ship; you can have that one if you can fly it."

"Thank you," Wheatley bowed in respect to them. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kindness." Before either of them could speak more, he sensed Vader's presence not far from where they were. "We have to go, now."

The rebels nodded and led him away to a place where many ships were parked. He quickly scanned the place and noticed one moderate sized ship, and one X-Wing ship.

"Kid, I can't spare you a flight suit but take that X-Wing." The rebel squad's leader looked completely serious, which surprised Wheatley.

"But it's your ship," Wheatley said while feeling quite confused. "Why are you just letting me, a stranger, have it?"

The woman chuckled, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"I'm due for an upgraded one," she explained. "Go on, go before they catch you."

"But surely that's your astromech droid in there too? Why let me take them as well?" Wheatley felt guilt wash over him, he was depriving this woman of a droid and an X-Wing. He felt awful, selfish almost.

"That's a spare," the woman explained irritably. "Now stop wasting time, go." Wheatley knew there was no point arguing and nodded.

"Alright... Thank you," Wheatley said.

"May the Force be with you, Kid."

"May the Force be with you," he echoed the phrase before climbing up into the X-Wing.

"Maybe we'll see you around," the rebel said with a smile. Even though they both knew that their paths would never cross again.

Once in the cockpit, he started up the ship and heard it roar to life. Wheatley got the ship airborne and shot into the air. He heard beeping and realised that it was the astromech. Its beeps and whistles indicated that it was confused. On the screen was what appeared to be the translation of the noises.

**Who are you? Why are you in this ship?**

"I'm Wheatley, Wheatley Moonlit." Wheatley wanted to make sure the droid wasn't scared and that it would help him out. "Sorry little buddy, your friend let me use this ship to escape the Imperials."

**Ah, in that case I am happy to help.** The droid's words appeared on the screen again. **Let's go, we can't stay too long.**

"Yeah, let's go," Wheatley didn't know what planet to run to now. He checked the fuel tank and noticed that the ship could get him to Hoth. Without stopping to think too much about whether that was a good idea, Wheatley typed in the coordinates and flew up into the atmosphere.

Once everything was ready, Wheatley made the jump to hyperspace. He slumped in his seat and sighed in relief, maybe things would be okay for now. However, deep down Wheatley knew that was not the case. Vader now had his trail again, and he was certain that the emperor would catch him.

But for now, he allowed himself a temporary reprieve. Absently, he took his lightsaber off of his belt and examined it.

**Since you said your name, I'll tell you mine.** The droid beeped happily, and Wheatley read the words on the screen. **My name is R2-KC, pleased to meet you.**

"It's nice to meet you too," Wheatley said with a smile. It was nice to actually talk to somebody like this, he now had some company on his lonesome journey. "May I call you Kaysee for short?"

**You may.** Wheatley chuckled and watched the hyperspace lights outside the cockpit windows. His mind started to wander, and when that happened it usually wandered into dangerous thoughts.

How long would it be until Vader caught up to him, was the Emperor already tailing him? "Hey, Kaysee, could you wake me up when we're nearing Hoth?"

**I will, master.** Wheatley smiled at the droid's politeness.

"Thanks," he sighed and relaxed into his chair. Trying to block out his troubling thoughts, Wheatley gave into the exhaustion that was tugging at him. He closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Vader watched as his troopers came back empty handed, but he was far from surprised. Moonlit was cunning and surprisingly difficult to locate. However, the fool hadn't known that he was being watched as he left Corellia.

How could Vader not notice and X-Wing flying away, a ship which is a symbol of the pitiful _‘rebellion’_. He gritted his teeth as he thought about what that meant, was Moonlit joining forces with them?

"Moonlit, I'm sure you remember the promise I made to you." Vader felt the familiar twinge of guilt as he said that. Anakin Skywalker was once again trying to break out, but Vader would not allow that to happen. Who cares if Skywalker cared for Moonlit? Moonlit would be dead by the year's end, he just had to find out where he was going. Once Vader found the Jedi, it would be the last time Moonlit drew breath.

"General Nixim," Vader said to his right-hand man. "Can you trace the whereabouts of that ship?"

"Yes sir, we'll activate the tracking device that our infiltrator planted on it."

Vader grinned and felt smug about the situation. Moonlit may be able to hide his Force aura, but the fool wouldn't have known the ship was being tracked. Vader had let the rebel squad go, so their spy could gather more information for the Empire.

But now Vader had a more important issue to deal with, locating this troublesome Jedi runaway. Without a word to anybody, he stalked off to his private ship and got inside. "Artoo, make sure you receive the data from the tracking device on that X-Wing."

**Will do, Master.** Vader grinned and got his ship into the air, soon Moonlit would be his. For some reason Vader could not explain, he felt strange. Ignoring the feeling, he and Artoo shot off into the atmosphere and left Corellia behind them.


End file.
